Tournament of Titans
by Funkii
Summary: A mysterious wizard has brought 32 of the greatest video game characters to battle it out. Who will survive?
1. Backstories Part 1

!!!Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters and so anything that happens in this story is all my doing!

"Hello Mario!" said Princess Peach as she ushered him into her castle.

It was a sunny beautiful day, but something didn't feel right about today. Mario entered the castle and walked over to a large painting in the hallway. It was a picture of him and Luigi jumping on a toadstool. Suddenly something shimmered across the painting.

"What was that?" thought Mario as he moved in closer for another look.

A huge portal then opened up and sucked Mario into it. The portal quickly closed behind him and Mario was no where to be seen in the Mushroom Kingdom.

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Heartless surrounded Donald as he fought his way over to Sora and Goofy in the Radiant Garden.

"Hurry Donald!" shouted Goofy as the three of them began to run towards a near closing door in the distance.

Heartless arose from the ground and crawled after the trio to try and stop them from entering the door.

"What's that?" shouted Sora as he pointed over to a large portal that had opened near the door.

Suddenly Soar felt his body being sucked towards the portal. Goofy and Donald jumped to save him, but it was to late. Sora flew through the portal and it closer swiftly behind him.

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In the far land of Hyrule, Link was riding his horse through the beautiful Kokiri Forest. He viewed the trees and watched as he past the small forest children as the waved to him. Then Link's horse stopped and Link was sent flying forward off his horse. On one of the trees there was a blue swirling portal that Link had never seen before. He was then sucked towards the portal with tremendous speed and he flew through the portal and out of Hyrule.

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Kratos flung his blades deep within the undead warrior as he tried to attack. Kratos had no time to dilly dally around. He had to find the sisters of fate so he could get his revenge on Zeus. As Kratos cleaned the blood from his blade in a small little river near a large temple, a portal opened up on the bank of the river on the floor.

"This must be from the gods!" thought Kratos and he quickly jumped in ready to fight.

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"GO GO GO!" shouted one of the troops as the battle against the flood began.

Master Chief emerged from behind a Banshee and he had a sticky grenade in his hand. He flung it at a large group of zombie flood coming his way and it exploded with a large blast.

"Easy as…." said Master Chief as he was violently pulled back into a mysterious portal that had appeared on a wall of the temple he was in.

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Bomberman entered his house wondering what to do with his life since it seemed that there was no more evil in his lands. He had become some what depressed since there was that much action anymore and Bomberman needed some action. Suddenly a portal appeared on the floor of his kitchen and curiosity hit him. Without thinking Bomberman jumped into the portal, hoping for a little adventure.

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Bananas rotted on the floor of Donkey Kong's tree house in the trees. Him and Diddy Kong had found a huge pile of banana's outside their house and the quickly ate them up. They seemed to be relaxing themselves when Diddy Kong pointed out a huge hole on the wall of the tree house. Donkey Kong ran over to attack it but was sucked into it's vortex and disappeared with a flash.

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"You can't beat me you little ugly blob," laughed King DeeDeeDee from behind a huge cannon atop his castle.

Kirby stood ready to fight in front of the mouth of the cannon. DeeDeeDee shot out a cannonball and Kirby quickly swallowed it up before it even could cause damage. Then a portal appeared in the sky and Kirby was sucked into it. DeeDeeDee was puzzled by what had just happened.

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"Snake to Mission Control… Snake to Mission Control…," said Snake into his radio on his shoulder.

The radio didn't seem to be working since Snake just was hit by a club right on the radio by one of the guards outside the headquarters of the terrorist program. Then another guard appeared near the door and Snake readied a knife to throw at him. Suddenly him and the knife were sucked into a portal high up in the tree he was standing near.

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Baraka stood on the hard rock as he attacked Sindel with his blades. Sub-Zero had entered a huge war full of warriors from all the realms. Scorpion quickly jumped out and attacked Sub-Zero, but he blocked it with a shield of ice. Onaga flew high in the sky, but trailing behind him was a large portal that had opened up. Everyone stopped fighting and looked up at the portal in confusion. Sub-Zero was sucked into the portal and it closed up quickly behind him.

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Crash Bandicoot was driving around in his go-cart on a sandy beach. Without a moment's notice he had driven right into the portal that had just appeared on the beach. He went into the portal, but the go-cart was sent flying out of it after he went through.

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Onimusha stabbed his blade deep within the demon and it vanished in a puff of smoke. More demons began to appear atop the castle roof and Onimusha prepared for the fight. Him and his sword were then dragged into a portal that had formed on the side of a rice paper door on the building nearby.

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"Curse you Star Fox!" screamed Star Wolf as he was defeated by Star Fox in an aerial fire fight above the city.

He had just defended the city from a bombing that Star Wolf was attempting to do, but thankfully he did it. A portal appeared above a large skyscrapper in the city and Star Fox was pulled out of his space vehicle and into the portal.

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Leon ran from the crazy villagers as he tried to save the young Ashley from the mysterious cult. He fired a few bullets into an axe wielding maniac and it quickly took him down. Leon was then pulled into a portal that was on a broken down home in the village.

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"Cloud you have no chance!" shouted Sephiroth as he drew his blade from it's sheath.

Cloud wanted nothing more then to destroy the evil Sephiroth once and for all. The two ran at each other, but a portal formed in between the two and Cloud was sucked into it.

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MORE PORTAL STORIES IN THE NEXT CHAPTER


	2. Backstories Part 2

Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters, so don't sue me!!!

Megaman walked into the huge metallic room and heard the shuffling of metal boots. He knew that robots were somewhere around. Just as Megaman spotted the robots though, he was pulled into a portal that had appeared on the wall of the room.

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Sonic and Tails were racing through the countryside towards a large flag that stood on a hill.

"Race you to the top!" shouted Tails as he advanced on Sonic

Sonic then started hyper rolling towards the flag and was going at super fast speeds. He didn't even notice it when he ran right into a portal that was directly in front of the flag.

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Spyro ran towards the large waterfall in the village to get something to drink. The cool water felt good going down Spyro's throat, but something felt weird about the water fountain. A small hole was growing at the bottom of the waterfall and Spyro spotted it. Suddenly he was pulled deep underwater and into the portal.

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Lara ran towards the closer door of the temple, hoping to get out with the treasure in her hands. She ran with all her might and it was nearly closed all the way. With one large leap she flew through the tiny opening in the door right before it shut all the way. She was freed, but then she landed right into a portal that appeared on the other side.

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"I hate these guys," said Dante to himself as he sliced his sword cleanly through the demons. They turned to ash and Dante put his sword back in it's sheath. In the corner of his eye he saw a portal opening and he thought it was a sign to enter it. He walked through it, not knowing that this was a trap.

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Banjo and Kazooie reached for the golden Jiggy that floated above the statue of Mumbo Jumbo.

"A little bit more Kazooie," said Banjo as he tried jumping for the Jiggy one more time.

Kazooie tried flapping her wings, but it didn't help. Just as Banjo and Kazooie touched the Jiggy, they fell to the floor and into a portal that had appeared.

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"I need a wrench now," said Ratchet to his small robot, Clank.

Clank walked over to the tool box and took out the best wrench in the box and handed it to Ratchet. Clank then noticed a portal that was opening on the wall of the room. He quickly latched onto Ratchet's back as he was sucked into the portal, wrench and all.

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Ivy drew her blade as she confronted Cervantes on the open seas of the Mediterranean.

"You cannot defeat me," said Ivy as she swung her blade causing it to become a sword/whip.

Cervantes swung his swords high in the air, but they barely missed Ivy. She did a back flip to dodge, but the high winds of the sea caused her to entered a mysterious portal that had appeared on the ship.

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The Prince pulled his blade out of the creature as he walked towards the small fountain in the library. The Sands of Time have plagued this land and the Prince couldn't let it get out of hand. Just as he went to take a drink of the clean waters of the fountain, a sand creature appeared. The Prince didn't get enough time to think and he was immediately pulled into a portal that was behind the creature.

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Ryu practiced his high kicks in the alleyways of the city. He was getting very good at them and knew that his next opponent M.Bison didn't stand a chance. He was practicing for the big fight and even learned a few tricks from his beaten foes. As Ryu went to do another kick, he was pulled into a portal that was on the wall of one of the buildings.

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"Agent Sam Fisher," said the radio as Sam Fisher turned it off since he was getting ready to attack a guard.

He silently jabbed a knife in the neck of the guard and pulled the body into a closet. Inside the closet there were tons of boxes and shelves full of worthless papers. On the ceiling, a portal had formed and Sam Fisher was pulled inside of it.

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The Headcrabs attacked as Gordon readied his trusty crowbar. They leaped all over the place, but Gordon easily dispatched them with a few whacks. A few of the combine had infiltrated the area and Gordon was sick of the fighting. Suddenly gun fire erupted from a farmhouse out in the distance and Gordon got his pistol out. Before he could even take a step his was sucked into a portal behind him.

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Sly Cooper silently tip toed towards the giant jeweled necklace in the museum.

"Okay Sly hurry up before the alarms go off," said Bentley from Sly's headset.

Sly Cooper rushed over to the jewelry case and bashed it open and the alarms sounded. Suddenly Sly was pulled into a portal that was on the ceiling.

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Daxter threw a dart as Jak poured a glass of water from the sink. They were relaxing in the city inn because they knew that trouble was afoot. Daxter sniffed around and smelled the water and ran over to the glass to get a drink. Suddenly Jak was pulled into portal on the wall and Daxter looked around in confusion. Then he was pulled into it as well.

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Samus put on her suit for the battle that she knew would be coming. The inside felt warm and comforting and the high tech gear made it seem like it was worth millions of dollars. Samus check her arm cannon to make sure it was working properly, but she noticed that when she shot the wall of the hangar, a portal was where she shot. As she readied to shot it again to see what would happen. She was pulled deep into the portal.

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Ameterasu ran through the vast lands of the East, looking to destroy all evil within it. The wind blew through the wolf's fur and it felt good to her. With the power of the paint stroke, nothing could get in her way. Well except for the huge portal that she ran into while running.

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Rayman was playing guinea pig to the evil rabbits. He knew that the Rabbits would keep making him play their little games till the day he died so he decided to use some plungers to escape. He was only 3 plungers away from victory and he was about to go out and win another one. Just as he opened his door he was greeted by a huge portal that he was sucked into.

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That is the back story of each contestants way of getting to this unknown place. The next chapter will explain everything and the battles will begin.

Just to let you all know this story is following only one character and that's Sora from Kingdom Hearts, but he will become friends with the other characters so this isn't just Sora's story.


	3. The First Battle

-1Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters in this story so don't sue me. These stunts are done by trained professionals so please do not reenact them at home. Lol

Just as quickly as Sora entered the mysterious portal, he was shot out of it and into a massive coliseum. The room spun in Sora's head, but he regained his balance after awhile and noticed that other people were also in the room with him. Everyone seemed in panic and terror at the odd looking coliseum. It was a massive coliseum with seats to sit at least 500 people or so. The ground was damp dirt and the ceiling was a huge dome shape with several lines going across it. The entire coliseum was being held up by four large statues that looked like gods or something.

"Welcome to the Nexus Arena," shouted a mysterious voice from up above ,"I am Devonix the Universal Wizard and I have brought you all here to see which universe is the best. All 32 of you are from a different universe and it is this coliseum that will decide your fate since only the winner will be allowed to leave."

Suddenly Sora spotted where the voice was coming from. High up towards the top of the coliseum, there was a man in a dark blue robe with light blue designs etched into it. His skin was a pale gray and his eyes were a dark black. Scars covered his face, the most predominate one was a large scar that spanned from the top right of his upper lip to the bottom right of his lower lip.

"Where'a am I?" yelled a plump short man from behind Sora.

Sora turned around and saw the poor man sitting on the dirt and looking around in confusion and fury. Sora walked over to him and sat next to him.

"Hi, I am Sora," said Sora as he outstretched his hand for a handshake.

"Hello Sora, I am'a Mario," said Mario as he shook Sora's hand.

Tons of warriors filled the arena and many seemed ready for a good fight. One was a mysterious man that looked Arabian, he carried a large sword and bits of sand were on his outfit. Another was a strange man with ice for arms. He was in a fighting position the entire time Devonix talked. Suddenly the man with ice arms got mad and pointed up at Devonix.

"Let me free you wretched demon," said the man with icy arms and a shard of ice flew up towards Devonix.

Devonix disappeared in a poof of smoke just as the ice shard was about to hit him. The man with icy arms then said something under his breath and walked away. Sora hadn't notice it before till now, but there were two caged doors on both sides of the coliseum. Inside there was nothing, but darkness.

"So what do you think'a will happen to us?" said Mario to Sora

"I don't know, but all I know is that we are puppets in this Devonix's game," said Sora as he pulled out a key chain that contained his sword in it.

He looked at it and wondered if he would ever be able to get back home.

"What'sa that?" asked Mario as he went to go grab it from Sora.

"Oh it's just my key blade, it's a powerful weapon in my universe," said Sora as he pulled away from Mario trying to grab it.

It seemed that a few of the people wanted to get away from the commotion in the arena so they flew up to where the seats were. A strange cat thing and a robot flew up and sat in the third row of seats on the right. Then a pink blob flew up and sat on the left side on the 15th row.

"The first battles will begin in a few minutes," said Devonix from all directions.

Sora was getting anxious about fighting these other people and even worse, if he had to fight his new friend Mario. Mario seemed nervous as well till he saw a beautiful white wolf walking towards them.

"What'sa that?" said Mario as he pointed over to where the wolf was.

Sora looked and saw the beautiful wolf come over to him and lay down near them.

"Hello young child, I am Ameterasu and I know you fear for the coming fights," said Ameterasu as she looked into Sora's eyes.

"How did you know that?" said Sora as he looked away from the wolf, hoping to stop the awkward feeling and tension between them.

"I know the pain of many things and I know you long to go home, don't fear child, for your vengeance can be your greatest weapon," said Ameterasu as she got up and slowly walked away into the chaos of the arena.

"What was'a all that about?" asked Mario as he took off his cap to itch his bald head.

"I don't know, but I got this warm feeling when I was around her," said Sora as he looked into the crowd of people hoping to find her.

The search was useless and Sora was worn from the chaos of the night. He wondered if he would be able to get any sleep in here. Suddenly Devonix appeared once again above the crowd and pointed down to everyone.

"It's time to begin the first battle," yelled Devonix to everyone," Ratchet and Clank versus Jak and Daxter."

Suddenly everyone disappeared in the puff of smoke and reappeared in the seats above the arena, everyone except the cat and robot from earlier and man with elf ears and a little weasel. An invisible force field covered the top of the arena so no one could get in or out of it. Devonix was inside the arena with the two combatants.

"You till will fight till one has fallen. The victor of the tournament will move on to the next round and be one step closer to leaving," said Devonix as he waved his hand to the two combatants.

By this time everyone had crowded around the invisible force field to watch the fight. Ratchet and Clank seemed ready to fight, but Daxter didn't. Jak had to bribe him to come and jump on his shoulder.

"BEGIN!" shouted Devonix and he disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Ratchet and Clank and Jak and Daxter were so confused, but Ratchet made the first move and pulled out his wrench just in case.

"Do you guys really want to fight?" screamed Daxter to Ratchet and Clank.

The two shook their heads and walked closer to Jak.

"How's about we rebel against Devonix," said Ratchet as he turned to the audience watching above.

Devonix was watching the fight from a throne chair high above the coliseum seats and under his breath he said," If you don't want to fight, I'll make you fight."

Suddenly Ratchet's arm grabbed the wrench and swung at Jak. Jak dodged it, but he wasn't very happy about it.

"I thought you said you didn't want to….," said Jak before Clank tried to punch him.

"That's it, I am taking you down," said Daxter as he leaped onto Clank and the fight was underway.

Jak grabbed for Ratchet's wrench, but Ratchet dodged and hit Jak in the back of his leg with it. Jak cam crashing to the floor and Daxter wasn't doing very good either. Clank grabbed Daxter by his fur and flew him up to the very top of the force field and dropped him. Daxter fell with a thump on the ground.

"Daxter are you alright?" asked Jak as he got up from being knocked down.

Daxter was unconscious, but still breathing. Clank turn to where Jak was and it was a two on one fight now. Clank flew towards Jak, but he counter attack and kicked him into one of the walls of the arena, but it didn't phase him. Ratchet swung again with the wrench and this time hit Jak in his arm. Jak was really hurting, but he still fought on.

"Is that the best you can do?" said Jak to Ratchet.

Suddenly Clank latched onto Ratchet's back and Ratchet was now zooming through the air with a wrench in his hand. Jak ducked and dodged all he could till he finally got a chance to attack. Just when Ratchet missed one of his swings from the wrench, Jak punched him in his stomach causing him to fall to the ground. Ratchet was gasping for air, so Clank got off his back and flew towards Jak. Jak jumped over the robot, but as he was running towards Ratchet to attack again he was shocked by Clank.

"Take that you stupid elf man," said Clank as he did a little victory dance.

Jak wasn't through though, he wouldn't just give up like that. He got up and started kicking Ratchet repeatedly. Ratchet moaned with pain as he clenched his stomach. Clank came to his rescue and started hitting Jak with the unconscious body of Daxter.

"Stop that!" screamed Jak as he grabbed Daxter from Clank.

Jak had tears form around his eyes as he looked at his unconscious comrade. He didn't even notice Ratchet's foot going straight into Jak's face. Jak fell to the ground motionless.

"Congratulations Ratchet and Clank on a well deserved victory," said Devonix as he reappeared in the arena.

Ratchet and Clank were teleported to the seats above and Devonix pointed his hand towards Jak and Daxter. Suddenly Jak and Daxter's bodies turned to this mystical force and it went inside of Devonix's hand. Sora couldn't believe what he just saw or what he will have to do to win this stupid tournament.

Well that's the end of Chapter 1. I hope you guys liked it and please review!!!!


	4. A New Ally

Disclaimer : I do not own any of these characters!!

"How can these battles just happen without any remorse?" said Sora to Mario as they sat in the seats above watching down as two more combatants entered the arena.

The two of them were wondering if they would ever have to face each other at a future time, but hopefully something will happen before anything bad can happen.

"Do not fear, the fight may be hard, but the rewards will be great," came a voice inside Sora's head that seem familiar to him.

Ameterasu layed on the stone seat behind Sora and she stared at the young boy. She was speaking to him through his mind.

"But what if I can't save everyone," thought Sora as he envisioned him standing atop a pile of defeated foes.

"It is what you must do in order to save us all," said Ameterasu as she turned her head to look down into the arena.

The two combatants were fighting hard, a weird looking short guy carrying bombs and a fighter with a large blade were the ones in the arena.

"You will tremble beneath my blade," said Cloud as he jumped in the air toward Bomberman.

Bomberman quickly grabbed a bomb on the floor and threw it towards Cloud, but he easily hit it back at him. The bomb exploded and Bomberman was sent flying into the wall fast.

"Cloud wins!" shouted Devonix from above as Cloud was transported back into the rafters above.

The energy of Bomberman flew into the hand of Devonix and the combatant was defeated.

"We will resume the battles tomorrow in the morning, for now you must all get some rest!" shouted Devonix as he waved his hand a large stone door opened up in the arena revealing another room.

Everyone was transported down into the arena to go into the sleeping chambers. Ameterasu was no where to be seen and Sora need all the rest he could get for the battles ahead.

"Whata do you think abouta this?" said Mario as he motioned for Sora to come over to where he was.

Hard springy bed lined the walls and seemed to go on forever. Sora took a bed next to Mario and plopped down on the mattress.

"It's better then nothing, we could be one of the losers tonight," said Sora, almost half regretting what he had just said.

"Letsa just hope that when we battle tomorrow that we cana win," exclaimed Mario as he took off his cap to lay down and rest.

Ameterasu was no where to be seen and Sora could really use the boost of confidence right about now. The night was long and no one seemed to get much sleep since arguments and yelling filled the vast room. There was even an incident of an attempted escape from a princely looking fellow in Arabian clothes and a secret agent in stealth gear wearing night vision goggles. The two weren't seen the next night, so no one is sure what happened to them.

"Gooda Morning Sora," shouted Mario as he tugged at Sora's shoulder to wake him up.

Light shined in Sora's face from mysterious torches that weren't on the walls last night and he got up half asleep.

"Devonix is yelling fora everyone to come ina the arena," said Mario as he pulled Sora off the bed.

Sora got up and trudged his way into the arena floor where many of the combatants were already up and ready to fight.

"Last night there was an attempted escape by two of your fellow fighters so they have been promptly disqualified from returning home. Now let's begin our first match, Samus versus Star Fox!" yelled Devonix from his regular throne area.

Everyone was teleported to the seats above save for the fox and the high tech woman. The stone door leading to the sleeping chamber was closed and the two combatants looked ready to fight.

"BEGIN!" shouted Devonix in a spree of twisted pleasure at knowing the two were basically fighting to the death.

Samus instantly jumped up and kicked Star Fox right in the face knocking him back into the wall behind him. Star Fox grabbed a laser out of his pocket and fired it at the body armor of the woman to no avail. Sora looked around at the people watching the match and the were cheering for their favorite to win.

"How can these people get pleasure in seeing them fight like this?" asked Sora to Mario.

"Ia don't know, but I don'ta like it," said Mario as he itched his leg from boredom of watching the match.

Sora looked up at the mysterious magician causing all this fighting and noticed that he was wearing a deep red ring on his finger. It seemed to glow with power and perhaps this is what gave him his powers. Devonix seemed to notice the eyes of the young boy glaring at him for he looked back at him and covered his ring with his other hand.

"Your going down foxy," yelled Samus from behind her armor as she shot a laser at Star Fox who dodged it.

Star Fox did a flip behind Samus and started pulling off pieces of armor off of her so he could get a plain shot at her body. Samus tried with all her might to get the fox off her back that she backed up into the wall and slammed Star Fox into it.

"AHHH!" shouted Star Fox as he fell to the floor in pain.

Samus charged up her laser and aimed it right at Star Fox and blasted him. Before the light from the laser had even settled, Samus was in the stadium seats again and Star Fox was no where to be seen.

"Samus wins!" shouted Devonix as he gave an evil grin as he stared deep into his ring.

Sora had been watching the match, but he quickly eyed Ameterasu in the seats across from him, she was silently watching up at the magician just like Sora had been before. She was deep in thought and seemed to be murmuring to herself.

"What a good fight that was," said a woman in purple from behind Sora.

"Excusea me madame, whatsa your name?" asked Mario as he turned around to look at the woman.

The woman seemed to ignore Mario's comment and went straight to Sora.

"I see that you to have noticed the magician's ring, It seems to light up when someone is defeated," said the woman as she sat next to Sora.

"I thought I was the only one who noticed," exclaimed Sora.

Mario seemed frustrated by the woman and stood in front of the two of them.

"Now don'ta come barging in here withouta giving your name," said Mario as he had a semi-angry look on his face.

"Well aren't you a little pushy, I don't even know yours," said the woman as she moved her white hair out of her eyes.

"I'ma Mario and this here isa Sora," said Mario as he patted Sora's back.

The woman got up and look away from the two of them, she turned her head back and said," The names Ivy, we will talk later."

She walked into the chaotic crowd merely disappearing before their eyes. Sora and Mario looked towards each other and shrugged their shoulders as they got ready for the next fight.

I hope you guys like this updated chapter… It's been a long time since the last one so I hope you enjoy!!

Who do you guys want to see battle in the next battle, just give me a review and I will post the results in the next chapter!!


	5. The Alliance of Fighters

Disclaimer: I don't own any of these AWESOME Characters!!

"It's time to turn up the heat for this next battle," shouted Devonix to everyone below," Kratos versus Lara Croft!"

With a wave of his hand, the two combatants enter the large arena and everyone marveled at the coming fight. Sora and Mario got up close to watch, since there wasn't anything else to do. A man with pale white skin took out two blades and pointed them at the woman across from him. The woman, who was wearing short shorts and a ponytail, blew him a kiss and then pulled out both of her pistols.

"Prepare to fight!" yelled Devonix as he cringed in excitement," GO!"

Kratos jumped high in the air and swung his blades around in magnificent patterns, but Lara was crafty and used her acrobatics to dodge each blade.

"Your going to have to try harder then that," mocked Lara as she opened fire at Kratos, who was surprised by the gunshots, for they were new to him.

Kratos jumped and blocked a few of the bullets, but one struck him in the arm and he fell to his knees.

"You will pay for that!" yelled Kratos as he grabbed both blades and flung them at Lara.

Lara was charging towards her foe and wasn't expecting the blades, one cut her arm leaving a bloody wound.

"AHHHHHHHH!!" scream Lara in agony as the blood gushed from the wound.

Kratos seemed to feed off of the yells and ran full speed at Lara with blades in hand. Lara thought quickly and ripped a part of her shirt off to tie up the wound, making a lot of the viewers happy in the audience.

Lara grabbed her guns off the ground and began to fire rapidly at Kratos, who did a barrel roll to dodge the bullets with only one clipping him on his thigh.

"This is a good fight," said a warrior that was standing next to Mario who had the appearance of a fox.

Sora looked around and noticed that everyone was wide eye at the fight, even Ivy who he talked to early was smiling at the bloodshed.

Meanwhile Lara reloaded her pistols and took out a grapping hook from her belt and through it at Kratos hoping to latch onto his leg or something. Lara was thrown for a surprise when Kratos grabbed onto the grappling hook and swung Lara around in a fit of rage, throwing her into the wall and knocking her unconscious.

"The winner is… KRATOS!!" shouted Devonix from his throne and the energy of Lara entered Devonix's ring and Kratos was returned to the audience above.

"Wow, thata was intense," said Mario as he turned to look at Sora, who was still awestruck at the fight.

"Let's just hope we get someone easy to fight at first," said Sora as he gulped at the thought of him getting paired with someone hard like Kratos or Ameterasu.

In the moment, Sora and Mario were spooked to find that Ameterasu was standing behind the both of them. She was eyeing the both of them and seem to motion for them to follow her.

"Let'sa go Sora," said Mario as he began to walk with Ameterasu towards a large group of fighters huddled together.

As the three approached, Ameterasu turned towards Sora and Mario and they heard her voice fill their heads.

"These fighters are all part of a force that is coming together with Ivy to find a way to battle Devonix and get out of the Nexus Arena," said Ameterasu as she eyed the warriors.

Sora looked around in the group of fighters and saw some new faces. A man in green armor stood large and proud, the group called him Master Chief. Next to Master Chief stood a man with blonde hair, he held a very large sword, the group called him Cloud. Next to Cloud stood Ivy and next to Ivy stood a bright blue hedgehog that the group called Sonic.

Ameterasu and Mario walked next to Sora as they walked closer to the group of fighters to introduce themselves.

"Sora and Mario we must try with all of our might to join these fighters to combat the evil, Devonix. If not we could all be lost to his power," said Ameterasu as she walked in the middle of the group with the other two.

"Hello guys, everyone this is Sora, Ameterasu, and Mario and they all have noticed the ring that Devonix wears on his finger," exclaimed Ivy to the group as everyone made reactions to a kid, a dog, and a plumber joining forces with them.

"You expect us to team up with a young boy," laughed Master Chief , but no one seemed to laugh with him and he quickly stopped.

"All jokes aside, we all need to work together in order to stop him," said Ivy as she looked around at the group.

"Whata if one of us is eliminated in the arena?" said Mario nervously

"Let's just hope that doesn't happen," exclaimed Sonic as he looked up at Devonix and then back down at the group.

Sora and Mario got a grin on their face because this was the chance they need in order to get back home. Ivy though wasn't smiling as happily as everyone else.

"We must fight as one force or we will be demolished. We have no idea how much power Devonix has, but we can't risk being destroyed before we can uprise," said Ivy with a strict look on her face.

Everyone nodded their heads and then went their separate ways, the next fight was soon to begin and they didn't want to make their group to obvious. All they knew was that it was going to be one hell of a fight in order to get back home.

Sorry for the short chapter, but I just wanted to get this out and to the public before anything happened to it just in case my computer acts up.. I hope you enjoy because the story can only get more bloody, thrilling, and action packed from here on out.


	6. History Lesson

Disclaimer: I don't any of these sexy characters, so don't lock me up lol

The time had come for another fight and the group was a bit nervous in who was next to go in. Devonix eyed the crowd, knowing the two next combatants, but not saying anything to tighten the tension.

"After much thought, the next battle is," shouted Devonix, who's voice seemed to be amplified by an invisible microphone," Ivy versus Ryu,"

With a click of his fingers, Ivy and Ryu were down in the arena, the karate fighter tightened his head band and got in a fighting stance. Ivy laughed that she had to fight this poor guy, but she got out her sword whip and prepared to smother her prey.

"Ready… set… GO!" shouted Devonix as he glared at the fight below.

Sora and everyone else in the group made sure to watch carefully, hoping that Ivy would win this fight so that they could continue their efforts against Devonix.

"Let's go pretty boy," said Ivy as she swung the whip sword high in the air and cracked it a few times at the Ryu, who seemed not even moved by the scare technique that Ivy was using.

"Hadouken!" screamed Ryu as he blasted an energy blast at Ivy who was hit back from the attack, she seemed surprised by the sudden blow from her opponent.

Ryu wouldn't let his opponent get up and jumped high in the air and slammed down hard into Ivy's back, she screamed in pain, but wasn't really phased by it otherwise.

"You little runt," said Ivy as she pushed Ryu aside and wiped the blood from her mouth, she readied the whip sword for the next attack.

With a ripple of her wrist the whip turned back into a sword and she slashed away at her opponent. Ryu tried with all his might to dodge the attacks, but the sword managed to slick his leg open pretty good. Blood gushed out of him and he had to act fast to heal it up.

"Hadouken!" screamed Ryu again as he nicked his leg with the attack, searing the wound shut so no more blood could gush out.

Ivy look around and noticed a small hole in the floor of the arena and saw this as an opportunity to get Ryu to trip and fall and lose his defense. Ivy stood at the opposite end of the arena and taunted her foe.

"Is that all you have, a few fireworks and you think you are the shit?" yelled Ivy from across the arena.

Ryu seemed really mad about this and charged at Ivy full force. He got closer and closer to the hole, but it seems that he was to smart to fall for the cheap trick for he jumped over it and kicked Ivy right in the gut, sending her backwards into the wall. She stopped to catch her breath and regain her balance, but Ryu was coming back for more.

Ivy let out a creepy laugh and waited for him to get to her, and when he did she dodged it causing Ryu to kick the wall instead of her. She turned her sword into a whip and latched in around Ryu's leg.

" Got you now," laughed Ivy as she flung him at full speed across the arena where he rolled across the floor.

Blood soaked the dirt on the arena floor and the two combatants weren't giving up. Ryu's leg was cut up pretty bad and Ivy's stomach was hurting more then ever. This time Ivy was mad and went on the aggressive.

"Get over here!!" screamed Ivy as she whipped her sword around, nearly cutting Ryu across the throat, but she missed.

"Hadouken!" shouted Ryu as another blast left his palms and made contact with the force field above, it seemed to disappear into thin air as if nothing was there at all.

" You watch where you are firing," said Devonix who was giving a warning to everyone, but especially Ryu.

Ivy continued to twirl the blade around till finally, after countless dodges from Ryu, the blade made contact with his side. Ryu screamed in pain as the whip lodged itself in his side, blood burst from the cuts in his skin. He fell to his knees and gasped for air as he let out his final words.

"Don't let my friends die," he whispered to Ivy, these words hitting hard to Ivy's soul as Ryu was turned into energy and went into Devonix's ring.

"Congrats Ivy, you have survived to the next round," shouted Devonix as Ivy was transported to where the others were," the next fight will be up shortly."

Ivy began to walk over to Cloud and Sonic and began talking to them. Sora wondered what she was talking about, since she seemed filled with excitement at her words. Quickly she ran over to Sora and Mario to tell them the news.

"You won't believe what I found out," said Ivy as she gasped for breath as she sat next to Mario," it seems that Devonix was almost petrified when the blast from Ryu came towards him, which means that he must not be as powerful as he says he is, otherwise it shouldn't have phased him."

"Whya is that so important?" said Mario, who seemed to be lost by Ivy's words.

"Because I think that means that this force field that surround the top of the arena is created by Devonix. If he were to be attacked during a fight, it might startle him enough to throw off his power and giving us a chance to kill him," said Ivy in excitement, Sora and Mario clenched their teeth at the word "kill".

"So what do you think we should do then Ivy?" asked Sora as he played with his key chain to get his mind off the fights.

"It would probably be best to strike after everyone has done at least one fight, that way Devonix will trust us more and possibly letting his guard down more," exclaimed Ivy, the three had noticed that Ameterasu was standing right behind them listening the whole time.

"Thanks for warning us you were there," said Ivy to the wolf.

"Your welcome," mocked Ameterasu as she laid down to listen in some more.

"Letsa just hope that we cana will our matches aye," said Mario as he looked up at Ivy and then back down to his feet.

"Alright a few of us are going to look around here to see if we can find anything that we can use to our advantage when we do finally strike," said Ivy as she got to her feet and said goodbyes to everyone before walking back over to Cloud and Sonic.

"She is a firey woman," said Ameterasu to Sora and Mario.

"You are telling me," exclaimed Sora as he got up to walk around a bit by himself to clear his head.

The audience portion of the arena was huge, columns stood standing at all the ends of the arena to hold the massive ceiling up. Sora had never even thought to looked around past the columns so he decided this would be the best time. As he climbed up the steps to get to the top, he wondered where they actually were. Was it some new universe that no has seen, or is it just all an illusion to get them to fight.

At the top of the steps, Sora noticed that there was a medium sized room behind the columns that was lit by torches on the walls. The torches gave off an eerie blue light that made the shadows dance, reminding Sora of the Heartless he once fought.

"Would I ever get back?" thought Sora as he walked down a long dark chamber in the room.

The dark chamber led to a room adorn with trophies of all shapes and sizes. Weird names were written on the trophies, such as Tronal Redden and Fravet Westle, and each were in honor of someone winning in the arena.

"Have there been other battles before this one?" thought Sora as he quickly walked around the room looking at all the trophies.

"I see you found the trophy room also," said a voice from behind Sora.

Sora turned around quickly and noticed a creature with no arms or legs, but had floating hands and feet, he called himself Rayman.

"I have been hiding in here till it is my time to fight, I can't think of losing my homeworld," said Rayman as he brushed off one of the trophies that had dust on it.

"I can't think of losing mine either, but we have fight, otherwise Devonix will destroy us all," said Sora, who has just noticed that Rayman was carrying a trophy in his other hand.

"Is it worth is though, I don't know if I can fill these shoes," mumbled Rayman, Sora looked at him in confusion.

"What do you mean?" asked Sora, as he noticed that the trophy that Rayman held was one from a long time ago.

"This is a trophy of Grondella, a fierce warrior years and years ago that used to live in my homeworld. One day she went missing and no one knew what happened. This must be what happened to her, she must have won one of these tournaments years and years ago. If she won why did she never come back, and if she lost, why was my homeworld still alive?" asked Rayman who stared at the trophy.

Sora couldn't believe that these tournaments could had been going on for so long, they had to be put to a stop.

"Don't worry about it Rayman, even if we all never come out of this, at least we know that it did something, Grondella must have saved you all from destruction by sacrificing herself," explained Sora to encourage Rayman," Do you want to come with me back to arena?"

"No, I want to stay here for a little bit longer," said Rayman as he sat on a chair in the trophy room and started wiping off the trophy to read it better.

Sora left the room behind him and was sad for Rayman. What if what he said was true and that even if you do win, you still don't get to go back home? He would lose Kiari and Riku, Mickey and Donald, Goofy and Minnie, all lost due to something Devonix caused. A wave of anger went over Sora and he knew it was time to do something, this had been going on for generations without anyone doing anything to stop him, no it was time to make a stand.

"Therea you are Sora," said Mario as he met with Sora near the columns," Where have a you been?"

"It was nothing Mario, just was clearing my mind a bit," exclaimed Sora as the two began to walk back down the stairs and sit to watch the next match.


	7. Bloody Guilt

Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters, I just use them in my twisted games!!!

Sora and Mario took there seats down at the edge of the invisible barrier that surrounded the entire arena. Up above, Devonix surveyed the crowd below, thinking of the next two he wanted to see battle it out.

"After much deliberation…the next battle will be… SORA versus LINK"

"Oh no…." but before Sora could finish what he was saying he was teleported down onto the arena floor.

Across from him was man or elf in green clothing, he had a large shield in one hand and a large sword in another.

"Prepare to fight…. Ready … set…. GO!" shouted Devonix as he feverishly watched with greedy eyes at the coming fight.

Sora didn't want to fight, he didn't want to be here at all, but he had to defeat Link if he was going to ever see Kairi or anyone else again.

Link pointed his sword at Sora and screamed in a weird voice, he began to side step around Sora, waiting for a moment to attack.

"I am sorry Link," shouted Sora " but I must do this!"

Sora grabbed his key chain and his Keyblade emerged from it, Sora took his stance and awaited for Link to make the first move. Link grabbed something out of his pocket and threw at Sora, it snapped with a strange bright light, quickly blinding everyone in the arena for a moment.

"Ahhh… I can't see!" said Sora when he was suddenly hit in the shoulder with Link's sword, it began to bleed slowly.

Sora grabbed at the wound and pressed deep on it, hoping to stop the bleeding, but it kept coming.

Sora then pointed his Keyblade up into the air and shouted "CURAGA" and a green light surrounded him, instantly healing his wound.

His vision returned to find Link beginning to rush at Sora, sword high above his head. Quickly Sora swung his Keyblade only to meet up with Link's sword. This dance of attack and blocking continued for about 4 minutes.

After what seemed to be an eternity, Sora pointed his hand at Link "FIRAGA" and a ball of fire shot out of it, hitting Link in his side and sending him flying backwards.

Link wasn't going to give up without a fight, he scooped up dirt off the floor and put out the fire that had started on his clothes. In a few seconds he was back up on his feet and ready to fight.

"You can do it Sora!" shouted Ivy from high above the arena in the stadium seats. Sora knew he had to win this if they had any chance at defeating Devonix.

Sora jumped high up in the air and glided his way towards Link, hoping to throw him off his strategy with a mix up of moves. It seemed to work for Link was confused at the gliding man.

Sora had to act fast, he pointed his key blade in front of him and shouted "THUNDAGA" and lighting shot out of his key blade straight at Link. Link was so startled by this that he was hit square in the body by it, he fell to the ground and started shaking on the ground as he was being shocked.

Link seemed to have a plan of his own though, as Sora stood and looked at the cheering people high above, Link pulled a bomb from his pack. With a tap the bomb began to light up, the wick slowly burning down.

Sora didn't even see it coming when he heard Link scream and the bomb coming straight for him. Quickly Sora kneeled down and stabbed his key blade into the dirt, whispering "AEROAGA" under his breath, creating simple invisible shield around him. It wasn't enough though, Sora flew back as the bomb exploded.

"Oh'a no…. Sora" said Mario up in the stadium seats.

Link saw his opportunity and ran over to grab the keyblade that was till stuck in the dirt from the explosion. Link threw down his blade and grabbed the hilt of the blade, instantly falling under the immense power it held.

"Come to me!" shouted Sora and the Keyblade with Link still attached flew to him, Link's eyes widened as he saw the fight coming to an end. As Sora reunited himself with his blade, he began to swipe at Link with all his might.

All the anger he had built up against Devonix, all the enemies he had made, all the sacrifices the past people have made all were built into the attacks he was making on Link. Blood soiled the dirt as Link's energy entered Devonix's hand and sorrow struck Sora hard.

"The winner is… SORA!" shouted Devonix from high above in his throne, Sora was transported back to the stadium seats.

"Congrats'a Sora, you won!" yelled Mario as he ran over to give Sora a hug.

Sora wasn't happy though, his face stuck in a sullen look. Ivy came over and gave him a pat on the back.

"Those were some neat tricks you had out on the battlefield," said Ivy, not acknowledging Sora's stricken face.

"What have I done…." moaned Sora as he sat down on the seat and put his head in his hands.

Sora couldn't understand how he could have done that, how he could have defeated an innocent man just like him. He couldn't imagine the people that Link would now never see because of him, the guilt began to weight in on the walls around him.

"Do not fear for Link, you did what had to be done," said the same, familiar voice that popped up into Sora's head.

"But it wasn't his fault he had to die like that," whimpered Sora to Ameterasu.

"Use that anger, that hatred for what you have done against our common enemy: Devonix. This is all his fault, he is the one that has forced you to do this," whispered Ameterasu, hoping to help bolster Sora's confidence.

"Your right, this is all his fault. We would never have had to do any of this if it weren't for him and his ring." shouted Sora's thoughts back to Ameterasu.

Suddenly a crowd of Sonic, Master Chief, Cloud, Mario, and Ivy surrounded Sora, congratulating him on his win.

"You are a lot better then I gave you credit for, sorry," said Master Chief.

"You that was amazing," exclaimed Sonic who stood still with his mouth wide open.

Everyone kept making him feel great for what he did, but he knew it was wrong. The only thing keeping him from attacking Devonix right now is the knowledge that if he did, all of the combatants in this room could die because of his mistake.

Two more combatants entered the arena and everyone took their attention off Sora and put their eyes on the fight below. In the arena were two people that Sora had not seen before. Their names were Onimusha and Gordon Freeman.

They seemed they were both from two totally different worlds. Freeman appeared to be from a futuristic society and Onimusha from some sort of demon realm. Sora looked away as Onimusha swung his blade around, slicing Freeman's thumb off.

It was going to be a tough fight, but it was all worth it to save the universes.


	8. Dust, Dirt, and Mushrooms

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters in the fan fiction, so just enjoy!

The fights continued throughout the day, the dirt that was the floor to the arena was slowly beginning to become more and more hollowed ground. Sora sat with his group watching as back and forth the punches would be exchanged and the losers would become a part of Devonix.

"The numbers are falling fast, almost everyone has fought once," said Cloud as he wiped down his immensive blade.

"I'a know, I haven't evena fought yet!" exclaimed Mario, who was obviously scared for the coming battle.

Sora could tell that Mario was frightened so he walked over to comfort his new friend. Mario's eyes just stood fixed on the two fighters below who looked like two dancers waltzing with one another. He didn't even take his eyes off the battle when Sora sat next to him and gave him a cup of water.

"Here, maybe it will help you relax," said Sora with care, handing Mario the cup.

With Sora's words, Mario's stare was broken and he shook his head from staring off into space. He grabbed the cup and gulped it down, Sora could sense the fear as he drank the water.

"Don't worry Mario, I believe in you! I know you can do this for everyone back in your universe," remarked Sora as he watched the fight below come to an end, another loser being sent into Devonix's ring.

"I….I just…..I don'ta want to hurt anybody," replied Mario, as he got off the seat and started pacing back and forth, sweat slowly worked its way down his brow.

Sora wanted to go up and help his friend, but it would be pointless. He could tell that Mario just wanted to be left alone so he could work on boosting his own confidence. Up above, Devonix surveyed the dwindling crowd of fighters that sat in the arena seats, picking the next fight. Ivy and everyone else in the rebel group that was going to go against Devonix did not seem to notice Mario's nervous state, only Amaterasu who watched with intent eyes from the highest arena seat on their side.

Devonix spread a grin across his face and pointed down to the fighters below,"We are down to the final fight of the first round, the final two opponents will be….."

Sora and the rest of the group had shocked faces to the news, they had not done their math correctly. They could have swore that there were more than just two fighters left who had not fought yet.

"MARIO VERSUS SONIC!" screamed Devonix down to the crowd below and Mario and Sonic were whisked into the arena.

"No, they can't fight each other!" yelled Sora who banged on the invisible force field surrounding the arena.

Below, the two allies faced one another with a good 20 feet between the two of them. Sonic eyed Mario with a mixture of thirst for battle and compassion for his team mate. Mario took off his hat and wiped his balding head to remove some of the sweat from it.

"Well go on, aren't you going to fight each other," shouted Devonix to the fighters.

"I'm sorry," was all Sonic could say as he curled up into a ball and began spinning with ferocious velocity.

Mario's game face then came on and he dug his hands into his pockets. Sora got confused to what exactly Mario was trying to do.

"Ah ha!" exclaimed Mario as he pulled a red flower from his overalls and fire burst from his hands.

Just then Sonic charged full blast at Mario and knocked him back, causing him to roll around like a little pill bug through the dirt. His red clothes became dirt splattered and his hat flew off to the side. Sonic charged back up and shot out towards Mario to hit him again. Mario wised up and fired a large fireball towards the speeding hedgehog. Sonic's fur was scorched by the fireball, which threw him off axis and sent him slamming hard into one of the rock walls. With his little plumber legs, Mario ran over and grabbed his hat and ran over to attack Sonic once again. Sora noticed something weird though, when Mario reached Sonic he delayed his attack about a few seconds longer then he would have expected. Mario even leaned down and seemed to say something to Sonic before he charged up another fire attack and let it loose on the hedgehog.

Sonic dodged the fireball and spun his legs around like a break dancer and kicked Mario in the face as he got back on his feet. The plumber rubbed his nose where Sonic kicked him and with the other hand he dove it into his pocket. Sonic made sure he was not going to get enough time to pull another trick out of his sleeve and he did a spin dash right into Mario, which knocked him onto his back. The breath was knocked out of him as Mario grabbed at the dirt as he tried to regain his breath, Sonic on the other hand stopped his spinning by digging his feet into the dirt and he refaced Mario.

"Wow, they are really going at it," said Ivy who was surprised at the fire behind the both of them.

Mario regained his breath fast enough to pull out a mushroom from his overalls which he ate quickly as Sonic came with lightening speed toward the plumber. In just a few seconds, Mario grew to about two times the size he used to be and Sonic stopped right in his tracks before he slammed right into Mario's right shoe.

"Whoa, did not see that coming!" exclaimed Master Chief from the stadium seats.

The giant hands of Mario crashed down around Sonic as the fingers pulled in and grabbed him. With all his might Mario let go and tried to throw Sonic towards the rock wall on the opposite side of the arena, but Sonic was too sneaky and climbed up Mario's arm as he let his grasp go slack a little to early. The blue furball punched and kicked away at Mario's face, causing him to fall back on his bottom and create a giant dust cloud.

"What's going on… what happened?" yelled Sora, hoping his friend was alright.

Suddenly a now smaller Mario flew out of the dust cloud and towards one of the rock walls at super fast speed. The slam that his body made on the rocks echoed throughout the entire arena and created a large smile across Devonix's face.

"Now that's what I like to hear! Sonic Wins!"shouted Devonix to everyone below as Mario's power was sent flying to the dictator in the chair high above.

Sonic emerged from the arena back where he had oringinally been sitting and the group congratulated him on his win, everyone except Sora. A deep guilt struck Sora as his friend didn't win like he originally had planned, he felt that if he had maybe comforted Mario more than maybe he would have fought better. Sora looked up toward the top seats to find comfort in Amaterasu, but she was no where to be seen. He just wanted to be back in his own universe with Kairi, Donald, and Goofy and not have to worry about all of this. Sonic then walked out of the group and Sora eyed him and hatred filled his eyes.

"Don't get mad at me, it was not as bad as you think it is," said Sonic with his hands outstretched to stop Sora from attacking him.

"What do you mean not as bad as you think, you beat him to pulp even though he was your ally!" replied Sora with frustration in his voice.

Sonic made sure Sora wasn't going to leap out at him before he finished what he had to say, "We actually never hurt each other, you see Mario came up to me and whispered "You will win, let's make it look real," before we continued the fight. He sacraficed himself to save us,"

The puzzle finally came into focus and now it made sense why Mario was so hesitant to attack Sonic. Sora's fear then turned towards whether or not Devonix had caught on, but the fears quickly subsided with the laughs coming from the chair above.

"Ha ha ha what a splendid fight! Round 2 will begin tomorrow, rest up because the fights will only get more vicious from here on out!" said Devonix who seemed humored by it all.

All the fighters were transported to the sleeping quarters they had grown used to, this time though with a lot of the beds now empty.


	9. The History of Battle

Disclaimer I do not own any of these characters! So don't sue me!!!

The sleeping chamber was a lot mustier than Sora previously remembered; it felt like a smog cloud was hovering over all of the fighters in the room, but really it was the despair of having defeated some of their friends today. Their numbers had been halved and now only the strongest were still around to fight into the next round of the tournament. Ivy seemed prepared to fight whatever came her way, but others like Sora and Sonic did not want to fight on anymore. With the loss of Mario, Sora's fire had been extinguished and replaced by a default emotion of sorrow and grief. Amaterasu could sense this and came to his side to help her friend in need.

"Don't worry about him, what he did was what he felt he had to do to save the rest of us," spoke the soft words that fed themselves into Sora's head.

"I know, but why? Now he will never see his loved ones again and it is all because we are forced to fight in this stupid place," thought Sora to Amaterasu.

Amaterasu brushed her face against Sora's cheek to make him feel better, but a little comfort would not change his feelings about Mario. The god in a canine body knew what Sora needed, and being left alone would do him well.

"I foresee good things to come young one, it will be your decision whether you want them to happen or not," with those final words Amaterasu disappeared among the crowd of rowdy fighters, Sora hated when she did that.

The beds were just as rough and uncomfortable as he last remembered them the night before, perhaps even more so because he could tell the place had been furnished in a hurry. Not every bed had a pillow on it and the blankets were rough and scratchy to the touch. Devonix did not care how he treated his fighters only that they engaged in his dirty entertainment.

In the large stone walls of the sleeping chamber no one could tell whether it was really night time, or if there was even such thing as a night time where they were at. The slowly diminishing sense of time was also tearing away at everyone's sanity; thankfully they had each other to keep their minds from going insane. The noises that the chattering warriors made distracted Sora from sleep and kept his mind racing with thoughts of what tomorrow would bring them. He wanted nothing more then to be out of the hell hole he was brought too, but there was nothing he could do about it right now and that was one of the other things that was tearing away at his insides.

"Did you see the way I kicked his ass?" questioned a warrior in blue from across the room to another fighter.

"I can't wait to get in the ring tomorrow, I am going to win this thing!" shouted another one.

"Whatever, you can't defeat me even if you had the might of the Gods on your side," yelled the warrior with red tattoos.

Sora could not filter out their chatter and needed to get away from everyone, thankfully there was a small hallway that led out from the sleeping chambers that the combatants were allowed to venture into. Anywhere outside of the hallway though would involved immediate expulsion from the tournament if they were caught.

After a short flight of stairs, Sora was into the massive hallway that led out from the sleeping chambers, the ruckus the fighters were creating from the chamber echoed out into the hallway. The hallway was adorned with strange symbols of an unknown language accompanied by marvelous paintings of faceless warriors fighting in the massive arena. None of the fighters looked familiar in the artworks, so they must have been from years ago. The high ceiling had a massive tile working of a large sword held by a hand that spanned the length of the hallway. Out of all of these things, the one that caught Sora's eye was a crimson urn that had a picture of a river of blood flowing around the outside of the urn.

It was not the urn that made Sora walk over to it; it was the pedestal it was sitting on. The pedestal was situated on top of a section of the floor that seemed cut out from the rest of the marble. On the back of the pedestal was a small section of cut out stone that looked like a small button. Curiosity got the best of him and Sora push the button and the entire section of the wall where the urn had once been rotated around and revealed a small book shelf with twelve books on it.

"Whoa, what is this!" thought Sora as he blew the dust off the old book shelf.

Each book was the same size and looked alike on their covers. After investigating them all they appeared to be the same book only translated into eleven different languages. One of them was English and the front of it read "The History of Battle" in large golden letters against a forest green background. The pages were old and smelled of dust, but Sora's intrigue was not going to be stopped by something as trivial as being careful of an old book.

The first page read "This place is marked with the death of those who dishonored our royals, now we shall use it to condemn those who dishonor our dead."

"What does that mean?"

Not wanting to read, Sora flipped through the first few pages that introduce the construction of the Arena itself, it was the section that was titled "Royalty" that caught his attention. A large picture of a man with flowing gold hair and bright blue eyes was what covered the first page of the section, he wore a large purple cloak and a helmet that covered the top of his head and had two eye openings in the front of the helmet. He was in the center of the page and was surrounded by candles that burned away as he knelt on the ground in a praying position. Underneath the picture was a description of the man:

Ozythios, Peacebringer of the High Tail Order: Brought peace to the once warring villages of the land and considered by many to be the first real ruler of Nexus.

"That must be the name of this realm we are in, Nexus!" thought Sora as he turned the next few pages which were also filled with detail pictures of the royalty line.

Sora stopped on a picture of a very tall woman with long black hair and beautiful green eyes. She stood on top of a large tower that looked down over a crowd of people. On top of her head was one of the same helmets that Ozythios was wearing in his picture. The woman wore long flowing green robes that looked paper thin to her tiny physique. Underneath the picture was a description, much like Ozythios's.

Carmenelle, Wise Leader of the High Tail Order: Deemed the leader of Nexus after the fall of Baiden and his royal army. Watches over the people of Nexus to ensure they do not turn back to the ways of their past.

"What does it mean when it says ways of the past?"

The sounds coming from the sleeping chamber were slowly growing quieter and Sora knew that he had to hurry before people got suspicious of where he was. Carmenelle was the last of the Royalty section of the book. The next chapter was called "The Past" in big bold letters that covered the top half of the page. The page afterward gave this description:

"The people of the Nexus were born a fierce and vicious people. After the discovery of the magic that their land brought them their brutal nature came forth through violence. Hosting battles in the Arena for pure entertainment and watching the weak tear each other apart. This all came to an end when Ozythios brought peaceful ideals to the land, changing the way people reacted to one another and overall changing the Nexus forever. To this day though some people still practice the deviant deeds their forefathers practiced, breeding violence in their hearts and minds. Anyone who shall break the order that the High Tail Royalty have set in place shall be cast into the Arena to forever be exiled into the bloody domain that they pray to."

"So this means that Devonix is one of these exiled ones? How did he get his powers?"

Suddenly a sound at the far end of the hallway echoed through the walls and Sora closed the book and shoved it back into the book case. With a push he rotated the wall back around so the urn now faced forward. Devonix emerged from the door at the far end of the hallway. He was walking, something that no one had seem him do before.

"Why aren't you in your sleeping quarters?" questioned Devonix, waving his finger in Sora's face.

"Sorry!" was all Sora could say, fear filled each step as he ran back up the flight of stairs back into the sleeping quarters.

By now almost everyone was asleep, Amaterasu was curled up on one of the beds across from Sora with her eyes staring, she knew what he had seen.

"Get some sleep young one, you will need it for tomorrow!" Amaterasu projected into Sora's mind.

Sora did not think he was tired, but sleep was attacking his eyes. Slowly they dragged close as he head rested on the thin pillow that they were issued. Tomorrow would be a big day, and he would need to be strong to survive.


	10. Race for the Book

Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters! So don't come at me like that son!

Sora's mind drifted off into a nightmarish world filled with bloodshed and the fall of Mario. It was like the events of the fight played over and over on repeat, drilling themselves into his head. It did not stop till a loud blaring sound, something like a horn, awoke everyone in the sleeping chamber and Devonix's raspy voice entered.

"Get up! Get up! It is time for the next round of the tournament!" exclaimed the bodiless voice in the chamber.

Sora rubbed the sleep from his eyes and propped himself up, his hair obviously ridden with signs of sleep. Amaterasu also seemed to have matted fur from lounging around on the springy bed. Some of the fighters did not want to get out of bed, but they had no choice as they all were instantly whisked away to the Arena. Sora combed his fingers through his hair to get it to look half way decent, when suddenly reality set in that he was still in the Arena.

"Morning! Did you sleep well?" groaned Ivy from behind Sora, she too was yawning away from her nights rest.

Sora turned around and spoke with no joy in his voice, "No, I kept having nightmares about Mario,"

"Don't worry about him, he did what he had to do!" said Ivy as she stretched her arms out, her whip sword held tight in her right hand.

"Oh before I forget you will not believe what I found last night in the hallway outsi…." Was all Sora could get out before Devonix appeared, floating on his throne of stone, above the Arena.

"Welcome fighters to the second round of the tournament! I hope you all have rested up because today the Arena will become an even harder place to fight in!"

With a wave of his hand the Arena instantly transformed from a dusty hole in the floor to a rocky forest scene. Large rocks jutted out of the once dirt covered floor and a small stream ran across the middle. A few trees stood up from the ground and moss and grass was what replaced the dirt.

"I thought a change of scenery would be nice! Our first battle shall be….SOLID SNAKE VERSUS CLOUD"

Cloud and Solid Snake teleported into the arena floor. Snake had the upper hand because his camouflage made him hard to see against the forest background.

"What did you say Sora?" questioned Ivy over the increasing excitement around them as the rest of the fighters watched the match with Cloud who was part of their alliance of fighters.

"I said that I discovered something last night in the hallway outside of the sleeping chambers. If I knew where it was I would go show you!" shouted Sora over three guys shouting down at the fight below.

While Sora and Ivy talked, Cloud was having a hard time spotting Snake among the scenery. The two had not traded blows yet, but Cloud stood ready with his massive sword. The two danced around, one blind to the other. Snake was at an advantage sneaking wise, but he was not weapon wise. When Snake had been transported to Nexus he did not get to bring with him his heavy artillery. He only carried along his hunting knife, a few shots in his silencer that he had used a majority of in his last battle, and a single unused grenade. Being the super soldier that he was, he knew that he had to conserve his silencer ammo for the bigger fights and wanted to take this one mano y mano.

"Hmm you say you found something that could help us. There has to be some sort of way to get to the sleeping quarters from here. I will keep on the look out if you go and try to find whatever it is that you found before and bring it back here," whispered Ivy to Sora so that Devonix would have no chance of possibly overhearing them.

Cloud began to get anxious of where Snake was at and began swinging his blade around like a lunatic, hoping to hit the camouflaged killer. He got lucky and struck down a tree that nearly landed on top of Snake, causing him to roll out of the way and giving away his hiding spot.

"Get over here you sneaky ass hole!" yelled Cloud as he charged full force towards Snake with his massive blade.

Snake took out his hunting knife and dodged the oncoming attack and slide underneath of the blade, kicking Cloud in the stomach and slicing his right arm with the hunting knife. Blood began pouring out of the wound and Cloud staggered from the pain.

"Alright I'll do it, make sure that Devonix does not see me slip out!" murmured Sora as he silently made his way up the steps of the auditorium seats and around the corner of one of the hallways.

Devonix did not seem to notice Sora's departure because his eyes were hard fixed on the battle below. In the hallway that Sora had slipped into there were two ways to go. To the right, Sora knew would lead him towards the trophy room of all the past fighters in the tournament. The only option was the left so he wearily walked down it, the blue flamed torches cascading light off the stone walls. His heavy shoes made clanking noises against the marble and Sora tried his hardest to make sure his presence was not known.

The long hallway led into an armory of sorts only instead of where the weapons were suppose to be and armor on the shelves there were books and other sources of knowledge that sat in piles along the floor. It looked as if it were a library that had been hit by a tornado and Sora came to the conclusion that Devonix must have used this area as a study. All of the books were in this unknown language that was inscribed on some of the walls of the Arena, most likely the original tongue of the people of Nexus.

Meanwhile in the Arena, Cloud was still staggering from his wound. Snake slipped back into the foliage to hide from his foe. The fight was not over yet though, Cloud shoved his hand in his pocket and rubbed an herb on his wound healing it almost completely. Snake's face gave off a confused glance, but he still hid under the small oak tree to the right of Cloud.

"Come on out and stop hiding!" shouted Cloud in anger as he placed the sword on his shoulder, ready to strike when need be.

Cloud was frustrated with battling Snake, he had a significant advantage in this environment. He had to level the playing field. With a few swipes from his massive blade against a huge phosphate rock, sparks flew from the initial hit causing a small flame to emerge among the dry grasses surrounding the rock. Snake at first did not know what was going on till he put two and two together and fell back to figure out what to do next. As Snake retreated, Cloud grabbed a branch off of one of the trees and lit it on fire, throwing it into the large growth of trees and foliage to burn it all to the ground.

Devonix's face lit up with delight to see the flames lick at Snake's footsteps as it spread rapidly across the small forest beneath his feet. Cloud walked through the smoky pillars in search of Snake, to certify himself into the next round of the tournament.

"I hate getting lost!" thought Sora as he turned back the way he came.

After leaving the study of Devonix, the labyrinth of hallways and corridors weaved in and out throughout the Arena. Sora had to get the book he had seen last night before Devonix noticed he was no longer in the stadium seats. Finally after ten minutes of searching back and forth, Sora stumbled across a large door that look familiar.

"Finally!" screamed Sora's feet from running back and forth across the marble floor.

Sora entered the sleeping quarter's hallway and high tailed it over to the pedestal with the urn on it. With a push of the button the small pedestal rotated around and revealed the same 12 books from the other night. There was no thought to it, he had to rush and grab the book he needed. If the fight ended before Sora could return, Devonix would surely notice.

Snake retreated back towards the mouth of the stream that seemed to be flowing from the wall, work of Devonix's evil magic. With keen eyes, Cloud surveyed the burning forest floor in order to find Snake. Now that the red flames flicked throughout the forest, Snake's camouflage worked no better than Cloud's own clothing.

"Hurry up Sora!" said Ivy under her breath to herself.

Cloud walked up the stream and noticed Snake cleaning his bloody knife in it. Snake did not seem to notice Cloud as he walked up from behind him. Both of Cloud's hands tightened around the hilt of his blade, ready to strike down his enemy. The plan was coming full circle though and Cloud had stepped right into Snake's trap. Walking across the hidden trip wire that Snake had planted, Cloud caused a large tree that was being held up by the taught wire to fall. The tree knocked Cloud across his back and sent him flying in Snake's direction.

Snake, unable to avoid the oncoming warrior, was slammed in the face by Cloud's shoulder as the both of them tumbled into the small stream. The water splashed up on the burning trees and both of the combatants eyed one another. Snake brandished his hunting knife and ran full speed at Cloud who lifted his blade high above his head. Cloud's war cry could be heard throughout the Arena as he swung down, missing Snake as he slid between Cloud's legs and stabbed him in the back of his thigh. Blood started running down the stream as Cloud, in a fury of rage, swung his blade around and sliced Snake's back leaving a large red stripe across his camouflage.

Snake, being trained in close quarters combat, kicked Cloud in the face causing him to fall backward into the stream and sending Cloud's blade off to the bank. He lifted his hunting knife and went to finish the job, but Cloud swung his unharmed leg around and knocked Snake off of his feet. Snake's silencer fell out of his pocket and right in front of the fallen Cloud who grabbed it up and let loose all 3 bullets into Snake's body. The battle had come to an end and Snake clung to whatever life he had left.

"CLOUD WINS!" screamed Devonix to the rest of the fighters!

Ivy was flushed with fear that Sora would not be back in time before Devonix would notice. Thankfully Sora's running footsteps were masked by the sound of people cheering in the stands. In Sora's hands was the book that would give them all the information they need about this mysterious man. Devonix had not noticed his return and they were now one step closer to defeating the man who brought them here.


End file.
